The Greek Chorus

History of Ancient Greece

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Causes, Necessity, Gods 
 (p.65)

Underlying all thinking about this subject in Stoic theory was the hypothesis of the pneuma, the corporeal continuum first postulated by Aristotle and the physicians, but worked up into a universal explanatory canon by the Stoics (see chapter 4 below). The pneuma, the all-pervading stuff of divine coherence, came to be the material coefficient of the causal chain. Continuity or, with some allowance for our experience of discrete events, contiguity was recognized as the essence of causation; causes are bodies in motion, making contact and affecting other bodies. Of the Aristotelian causes, the efficient comes to absorb the rest.^[6] The material cause turns arche, originating principle, and virtually disappears from explanations of empirical experience. But that does not mean that the Stoics subscribed to the axioms of traditional mechanics. Their concept of body does not primarily turn upon dimensions or solidity. Rather, it is talked about in terms of acting and being acted upon; it is action that authenticates body.^[7] In Seneca's own words, quod facit, corpus est (Ep. 106.4). Note that God, the corporeal source of all action, has no fixed form.

Question:

Why is Ancient Greek Civilization important?

 

Greek Theater: The Chorus

Question:

What is the main plot of Agamemnon?

  

The Greek Chorus

Question:
What was the role of the Greek Chorus?
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Read the second paragraph on page 20

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 The Agamemnon of Aeschylus

(p. 20) 

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Activity:

Create eight random movements

Choose once sentence from page 20 of the book The Agamemnon

Say the sentence as you move.

RECORD IT AND POST IT

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Main Historic Points

Crete: the city had its own navy and writing system. The city fell after the eruption of a volcano. After that it was invaded by warrior like tribes. A new language emerges which is considered an early form of Greek.

Newer Cities: Walled cities like Thebes, Athens, Mycenae, Milos, were built. Life then was not peaceful. To them there was no account of precious civilizations but the Greeks.

Greeks Appropriate Everything: Greeks expand all over the seas. As a result trade grew. They were often attacked by barbarian tribes.

Literacy Fell into Oblivion: But we have Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. Ironically, Homer's characters were illiterate. During this period also Mycenae was destroyed by the Dorians who kept from Greek culture their ships and pottery.

Greeks Borrow their Alphabet: Greek alphabet is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the first alphabetic script in history to have distinct letters for vowels as well as consonants.

Ancient Greece is Born: Formed by independent cities (polis), Greeks imported everything until they began to harvest outside their territories. Expansion and colonization followed all the way to the Italian peninsula. It is here where the alphabet of what would become Latin was born.

Greeks Settled Across the Mediterranean: According to Plato, Greeks expand all over the Mediterranean. Athens and Sparta do not participate in this expansion. Spartans were descendants of the Dorians who destroyed Mycenae.

Athens vs. Sparta: The two cities were very different. Spartans conquered and prevented uprising while Athens developed democracy as a result of the people and the aristocrats coming to terms with each other.  Tyrants, who were aristocrats, took and retained power. They drove away the aristocrats from the polis. To distract people from this actions, they celebrate new festivals and cults. Once the tyrants were overthrown, the aristocrats return and negotiate with the people, which gave birth to Greek democracy.